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Created Nov 15, 2008 04:54PM PST • Edited Nov 15, 2008 05:15PM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Really Great 4.5

   Blade 2 is a revisit of the world originally visited 4 years earlier in the first Blade movie. They take Blade into a different environment, though, one that is a step more toward the fantastic side. Snipes and Kristofferson return, but this time they are helmed by Guillermo del Toro – the man responsibly for Hellboy 1 and 2 as well as Pan’s Labyrinth. The world of the first Blade is respected, and added on to. Blade is taken from the mean streets of America to the more mythical world of the vampires. Its a different story set in the same world just as every sequel should be.

   In this movie, you really get to see the effects that Blade has had on the vampire world. This is a creature who is really better than them in every way. “All of their strengths, none of their weaknesses.” This, of course, gets several different reactions from the vampire world. Many hate him for not embracing the vampire side of his heritage. Some hate him because he makes a regular habit of killing every vampire he sees. Some want the power he holds in his blood and that’s where the trouble comes in. The vampires are playing with their own genetics to make themselves more powerful. What they end up creating, though, is more than they can handle and the need Blade to reign it in.

   You can read my reviews of the other parts of this trilogy: the horror-based flick that started it, Blade and the movie that killed the franchise, Blade: Trinity.

4. Acting

   Really Great 4.5

   This second film really fleshed out the character base of this world and gave us many more personalities to enjoy. We see that not all vampires are as bad as Blade wants to believe and some are worse. In the first film we were really introduced to the “old blood” and “new blood” within the vampire community, this time we get to see a bit more of everything in between.

5. Male Stars Perfect 5.0

   Snipes rules just as he did in the first film. Not a great actor by any means, but he is able to put a subtle depth to Blade that is just enough for the role. You can tell there is much more behind the surface, but its not important all the time to know what that is. He’s a great fighter and those scenes in this flick look that much better because he’s working with people who can keep up with him.

   Luke Goss plays Nomak, the leader of this new breed of vampire – the Reapers. This guy is a vampire on steroids. He’s stronger, faster and tougher than what we’ve seen before and Goss plays him to a tee. He can hold his own with Snipes in their fight scenes and that’s invaluable to the look of those scenes. His emotionality is good, but his physicality is what sells this character.

6. Female Stars Great 4.0

   Leonor Varela is Nyssa is really the only female figure in this one. She does well enough, but comes of very cold. That is a large part of her character, but it makes it harder to relate to her and to really feel it when she meets her end. The story saves her a bit and just through the circumstances you do feel it, but it could have been so much more. That being said, she is very beautiful and is a very strong female character.

7. Female Costars Great 4.0

   N/A, so this gets the same score as female stars.

8. Male Costars Perfect 5.0

   Kris Kristofferson is great once again. Having him play off new guy Scud (Norman Reedus from Boondock Saints) makes him even better. He’s that much more old and grizzled in comparison.

   Reedus plays the new sidekick. The movie starts with Whistler being gone and Scud is who Blade finds to be the gadget man of the operation. He makes sense and is fun enough to watch. There is something about him, though, that you don’t like. You find out what that is at the end, but until that point you’re not really sure how you feel about him.

   Thomas Kretschmann as Damaskinos was very cool to watch. He is in full prosthetics and is centuries old but you believe it. His posture is great and he really projects this old, dark monster that has only lost more of his soul as the years have gone by.

   Ron Perlman is great as Reinhardt – one of the Blood Pack. This group was put together to kill Blade and are now forced to work with him. Reinhardt and Chupa (Matt Schulze) are not too happy about working with Blade and their back and forth with Snipes is classic. When Snips and Perlman have their first interaction and Perlman gets a bomb pinned to his head, it really sets the pace for their relationship the rest of the movie.

10. Film

    Perfect 5.0

    This film does stay true to the horror base established in the first Blade, but del Toro has a different way of seeing the world and what he does always moves toward fantasy. In my mind the parts about the first Blade that were really cool (the fights and the “ashing” of the vamps) are stepped up a notch and made that much cooler. Its not as gritty as the first film, and it has much more color to it so it is a bit of a change, but all positives in my book.

11. Direction Perfect 5.0

    Guillermo del Toro is a mad genius. I actually sought out Pan’s Labyrinth largely based on what I thought of Blade 2. I think he has an incredible knack for taking reality and pushing our imaginations just a little bit with it. I also think he got a fuller performance out of Snipes than before and nobody directs people in prosthetics better than him. It is a much different film than Norrington put out previously, but just as enjoyable.

12. Play Perfect 5.0

    David Goyer wrote all three Blade movies and as such this one carries the same dialogue as the first. This one, however, is much more tame when it comes to profanity. You also get to see a lot more character interaction in conversation. Whistler and Scud are great, so are Blade and Whistler with the Blood Pack.

    It doesn’t have lines that are as memorable as the first one, but that’s expected as the first Blade was the one to really break ground on this idea.

13. Music Perfect 5.0

    The music is taken one step farther with this movie. No longer just the techno, they through in rappers with the beats to give the heavy thumps a bit more life. I’m not really a techno or a rap guy, but in context of this movie, it is an excellent soundtrack.

14. Visuals Perfect 5.0

    The new Reapers are awesome. They are fantastic monsters, just as you would expect from del Toro (but before you knew you should expect them….if that makes sense). The jaw/tongue function is a little weird, but it works.

    The “ashing” as vampires die now looks 10 times better. As cool as it was in the first film, this one looks much more full. Instead of just a burning skeleton, you get a little bit more of the body/organs burning and breaking apart. The reduction to ash is more believable and it just looks so damn pretty.

    The fights are also different from the first and are now much more brawler. They aren’t as pretty and choreographed as they were in the first, but feel just as powerful. Del Toro also integrated CG into the fights to push our imaginations just a little bit more. Watching it now you can see a little bit of cheese, but it works and it keeps you in the moment. The finale between Blade and Nomak is one of the best fight scenes I’ve seen.

15. Content

16. Edge

    Risqué 2.2

    The edge was taken off quite a bit compared to the first film. There isn’t the profanity and the violence is much less graphic. The “ashing” is a bit more graphic, but its not blood and guts graphic.

17. Sex Innocent 1.0

    This movie was like the Champagne Room. And as we all know, there is no sex in the Champagne Room.

18. Violence Brutal 2.6

    The fights are a little bit more brutal. A fair comparison is boxing to ultimate fighting. Its less of a dance of skill and more of a beating the crap out of your opponent.

19. Rudeness Profane 3.0

    Whistler and the Blood Pack still has a few lines that are pretty rough, but overall its not too bad

21. Reality

    Supernatural 4.0

    This is a vampire movie and as such it has a lot based outside of reality. Unlike the first one, this movie doesn’t take as much care to make sure it is based in the real world. Its more willing to push into the realm of fantasy. We still do have the Reapers being a result of genetic experimentation – something that is very much a reality – but the result is a bit more of a jump. Again, though, its one that completely works for me.

22. Circumstantial Surreal 2.9

    The vampire nation is much, much bigger in this film and its a bit more of a stretch than the first. It really pushes toward the fact that this is not our world. The first Blade is one that could exist and we just don’t know about it. This movie makes that a bit more hard to believe.

23. Biological Fantasy 4.5

    The Reapers are pretty far out there, and even Blade is pushed a little bit more. They have established that vampires are strong and fast and heal quickly, so they just run with those facts and go big with it.

24. Physical Fantasy 4.5

    People physically aren’t that fast or that strong and they certainly don’t “ash” when you kill them.